Thurston is a politically-active, technology-loving comedian and co-founded the black political blog, Jack and Jill Politics. His first book, How To Be Black, will be published in February 2012 by Harper Collins. The ACLU of Michigan honored him “for changing the political and social landscape one laugh at a time,” and was nominated for the Bill Hicks Award for Thought Provoking Comedy. Then-candidate Barack Obama called him “someone I need to know.”

The ACLU of Oklahoma Foundation will also be honoring Jana Lewis Harkins for her years of commitment to advancing civil rights in Oklahoma.  She will be presented with the distinguished Angie Debo Civil Libertarian of the Year Award.

Individual tickets are $50 and student tickets are $25. Tickets can be purchased here.

For sponsorship info, please contact Allie Shinn or at (405) 524-8511.

For more information on Baratunde Thurston, please visit www.baratunde.com.

Author and Activist Angie Debo

The ACLU of Oklahoma is currently accepting nominations for the Angie Debo Civil Liberties Award.  The award will be presented at this year’s Bill of Rights Celebration on November 12^th. The Angie Debo Award was established in 1977 to recognize those who have provided exceptional defense to the Bill of Rights throughout the year or throughout their lives. Nominations for these awards must be received by the affiliate office no later than September 16^th. They may be mailed to the ACLU of Oklahoma at 3000 Paseo Drive, Oklahoma City, OK 73103 or emailed to Tamya Cox.

Nomination letters should be no longer than three pages and should include the following: 1) name, current address, and telephone numbers (business and home) of the nominee, 2) a description of the nominee’s worthiness, 3) a statement that the nominee has given consent to the nomination, 4) biographical information about the nominee attached as an enclosure, 5) letters of endorsement from others as optional enclosures and 6) the name, address, and telephone numbers (home and business) of the person making the nomination.

Tamya Cox, Legislative Counsel, demonstrates how to follow a bill in the Oklahoma Legislature.

Tamya Cox, Deputy Director and Legislative Council, will be the guest speaker at the Friday Noon Speaker Luncheon of the Oklahoma County Democratic Party on Friday, June 3. The luncheon series is held at the Boulevard Cafeteria, 525 NW 11th Street.

She will speak about how to successfully defeat the placement of an anti-affirmative action state question on the 2012 presidential ballot.

Ms. Cox is a graduate of the Oklahoma City University School of Law; she also holds a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Broadcast Journalism with an emphasis in public relations from Oklahoma State University. Ms. Cox’s service with the ACLU of Oklahoma began in 2005 as Litigation Coordinator.

Lindsay Earls

The ACLU of Oklahoma City University is honored to have Lindsay Earls as a speaker on April 15, at 5:30pm in the Homsey Moot Courtroom of Sarkey’s Law Center. Earls was a high school student in Tecumseh, Oklahoma, in 1999. The school had developed a policy in 1998 that required all students in grades 7-12 to submit to a urine test before joining any extracurricular activities. Earls was on the academic team and show choir, and although she took the drug test and passed, she filed a lawsuit claiming the policy violated the Fourth Amendment’s prohibition against unreasonable search and seizure.

Her position was denied by the district court, but supported by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals. Her case reached the United States Supreme Court in 2002, where Earls was ruled against in a 5-4 decision, upholding the “special needs exception” referred to in Vernonia School District v. Acton. She was represented throughout the process by ACLU attorney Graham Boyd.

After leaving Tecumseh, Earls went on to graduate from Dartmouth and is currently a first-year law student at the University of Tulsa. The speaking engagement will begin with a short video about the case, then proceed to comments from Earls about her case and how it affected her life, and follow-up with a question and answer session. This event is open to the public, and students who have evening classes are welcome to attend and leave as needed; they are just asked to sit near an aisle to avoid any disruption. The event should be over by approximately 7pm.

Katy Jones
Oklahoma City University (JD, 2011)
Public Interest Law Group President
ACLU of OCU President

Saturday, April 24th, 2010 – 11:00 a.m.

Stroud, Oklahoma

Watch this site for more information!

RSVP at acluok@acluok.org or (405) 524-8511

Saturday, Feb. 13 at 1pm
Oklahoma City University
School of Law
2501 N. Blackwelder
Oklahoma City
Room 102

Preview upcoming legislation and discuss lobbying strategies

For more info: (405) 524-8511; acluok@acluok.org;

Sponsored by ACLU of OK and ACLU of OCU

Please Join us in Honoring Robert Lemon for his outstanding achievement in defending civil liberties.

Keynote address by Dan Mach, Director of the Program on Freedom of Religion and Belief of the American Civil Liberties Union Washington, D.C.

Saturday, November 7, 2009 at 7:00 p.m.
Cocktail Hour begins at 6:30 p.m.

Clarion Meridian Hotel & Convention Center
737 S. Meridian Avenue
Oklahoma City, OK

Tickets $50 Each ($20 Tax-Deductible)
$450 for Table of Ten ($200 Tax-Deductible)
$1,000 for Sponsorship Table ($700 Tax-Deductible)
Reservation Deadline: Friday, October 30, 2009

Join us for a free symposium exploring solutions to prevent wrongful convictions in Oklahoma

WHERE: OU Law School, Bell Courtroom.

The Law Center is located at 300 Timberdell Road, Norman, approximately one mile south of OU’s main campus.

WHEN: Friday, April 30. From 5 pm to 9 pm.
WHO: Presenters include: Keynote speaker Craig Cooley, Innocence Project attorney, District attorney Chris Ross, Defense attorney Mark Henricksen, Forensics expert Laura Schile, Exoneree Gene Weatherly, murder victim family member Christy Sheppard.

This event is co-sponsored by the OU School of Law, the Criminology Club of OU, the Oklahoma Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty, ACLU of Oklahoma, and the OU Center for Social Justice.

No registration necessary. Contact Professor Susan F. Sharp, (405) 325-2829 for more information.

Note: CLEs have been applied for.

Susan F. Sharp, Ph.D.
L. J. Semrod Presidential Professor
Department of Sociology
University of Oklahoma
780 Van Vleet Oval, KH 331
Norman, OK 73019
(405) 325-2829